Update

I've been out of commission a little bit. I have been busy feeling like a mother of five kids under the age of five, a set of twins included in the mix, with one on the way! (I'm babysitting a 3 year old and two one year olds) I have been the busiest I have ever been in my entire life and at the end of the day I don't have much to show for it except for bags under my eyes and my hair a mess. I'm kind of a shut-in at the moment with no way out of the house. (but who wants to take 5 kids out?) So, please forgive me for my lack of communication in any form for the last two months. Seriously, after I have this baby, three kids is going to seem like a piece of cake!

This has been the absolute hardest thing ever for me, but honestly, the blessings have been huge and plenty and I have come to grips that this is my life at the moment. It's amazing how in the chaos of the day, I can feel content and happy and have joy in my life, even when it is extremely trying. Of course, I probably have about one day out of each week where I feel frustrated and want my house clean and want time to myself and time with my own children. That's life, though. There have been some really low points the past couple of months, but I have also felt more happiness and that is when I know that I am being watched over.

Thanks, Eric, for the last post. I've read it a few times a day since you wrote it. You are the best.

I do want to share a post from the nienie dialogues that I read frequently and even have part of it posted in my kitchen. I have never in my life felt more of a search for comfort and peace than at this moment and I'm so grateful that I know where to find it! Go read the post HERE.

My Wife is my Hero!

This is not Brandi, but her manly husband. I decided to Post on her blog to let you know what Brandi has been up to. For some reason, she feels that life has not been blog worthy as of late.

I want you to know of the sacrifice she is making on behalf of our family. Brandi has been watching 3 other kids plus our two for the past few months. She is waking up at 6:30 AM for the first drop off and does not have them all gone until 6:00 Pm, at which point she is still mother to her own. Brandi is also 7 moths pregnant and as you may know does not have the best pregnancies. I know how hard it has been for her to change 15-20 diapers a day while trying to potty train our Maya and a 3 year old. She has been left at home all day and stuck at home without a car as I have had to take it to work. Brandi is managing to still make Christmas presents, make dinner, and make our house feel like a home.

I have seen the tremendous physical, emotional, and spiritual toll it has taken on her and it is humbling. For you see, Brandi is doing this all for me.

I decided at age 29 to become a Police officer, cutting our income in half. I decided to quit my cozy job working out of the home where I was with my family much of the day. I decided to join a profession where the stress levels are high and the divorce rate ever higher. Brandi let me do this because she could see that I wasn't happy with what I was doing. Brandi has given up so much of her own time and sanity for me, and I Love her so much for it.

I have the greatest wife in the world and the sacrifices she is making for our family mean so much to me.

So baby, your life may seem boring and mundane at this moment, but I will always be in your debt for your overwhelming support for me. I love you and will do everything in my power to make the rest of our lives as happy and enjoyable as ever.

Thanks for letting me boast about my wife. It had been a while since she has had time to update her blog which is another sacrifice she is making.

I Love you!

A New Thanksgiving Tradition

Yesterday the kids and I made little boats out of paper and talked about the Mayflower and Thanksgiving. Then we filled up the sink with water and watched the boats capsize. It made for hours (literally) of entertainment for them.

The idea is from Martha Stewart.com and she suggests making small boats with names on them for seating arrangements at the dinner table for Thanksgiving. We made them with 8 1/2 x 11 inch paper and 5 x 7. We tried one 2 x 3 and it was so cute! Maya named that ship "Baby Superman". Here's the link if you'd like to try to make the boats with your family!

BOAT PLACE CARDS

Alright...

I've talked it over with my husband and after weighing the pros and cons, we are setting our blog to private...again! It is probably smart with his job and all. He hasn't ticked anyone off yet, but I'm sure he will, and I don't really want them coming after us! We're taking other precautions as well, but this is the first step to making our lives a little less open.

Leave a comment with your email address, or if you'd feel more comfortable, email me at ericandbrandilynn@yahoo.com

I know that I have many of your email addresses already from the last time that I went private, but still leave me your email just in case!

I will email everyone that is signed up under my blog every time I post something new so that you don't have to check all of the time. I know that some of Eric's friends check this blog, too. Just email me and I'll add you...and anyone else that wants to be added. If you don't have a blogger account, still email me and I'll let you know how to sign in...after I figure that out. Thanks!

To be or not to be...

So, everyone is setting their blog to private these days. Jody had a good debate going on her blog, but I am still asking questions to myself. I think I have about 5 more friends/family wanting to go private, and I have about 8 that already are. This has been a constant internal debate with me since I started this thing. I just keep asking myself if I should be scared and if I should, why? The reason I blog is mostly personal and to keep a record, but I also love to keep in touch with friends and finding new friends, which is eliminated when someone goes private. My blog was set to private and NO ONE came to visit my blog anymore. It seemed pointless to me to even have a blog at that point. I keep going back and forth about it. I think I would rather just delete my blog and keep a record a different way than to make my blog private. I'm just thinking out loud. Please share what you are thinking. A majority of my friends still have open blogs, so I'm just curious what makes you avoid putting them private or if that is even a worry for you.

The Sickness

I have been really sick the past couple of days, but I am finally feeling well enough to eat. It's really hard for me to be sick for a few reasons, but the main reason is that I hate being alone, quarantined to the bedroom. I think of myself as a "social" sick person. I still want my husband there to talk to me and for my kids to be around. They left for church and Eric said, "There, now you can have 3 hours of rest." But I kept thinking I was hearing Eric's voice and the children laughing. I couldn't wait for them to get home. I felt so left out as Eric was making them lunch. I could hear him acting out a scene with the food where Mrs. Butterworth's was getting attacked by the peanut butter or something like that, and I shed a few tears because I was stuck in bed and couldn't join in on the fun. I kept calling my kids in the room to come and lay by me and watch a show with me or tell me a knock knock joke. Yes, I felt extremely sick and was probably throwing up every 45 minutes, but I was LONELY! Is that weird? My husband thinks so.

When we were married only a year, I saw him with the flu bug for the first time. He had seen me sick a lot with being pregnant and a few surgeries, etc. But I had never seen him sick before. I went in the bathroom to check on him and he said in a deep monstrous voice, "GET OUT OF HERE!" and I did. And I didn't check on him again all day for fear that his head was going to spin around or some crazy thing like that.

So, anyway I am feeling much better and I'm glad that people noticed I wasn't at church. Thanks for caring, friends! And thanks family for indulging me and spending time with a sick Mom and wife that looked pretty scary and probably had horrible breath. That's why I love you guys!

Halloween Night

Halloween was so fun this year for us! Hayden went as Darth Vader. Maya was Snow White, but when people would ask her who she was for Halloween, she'd say, "Darth Vader."
When I was done with her hair on Halloween, I said, "Oh, look! You're a princess!"
She put her hands on her cheeks and said, "OH!" It was pretty much the cutest thing ever.

The first house..Grandpa Elliott's. And boy did they deliver! Homemade carmel popcorn balls.
The winner of my favorite costume award this year goes to my cousin, Jonah. Look how hilarious the Gingerbread costume from Shrek is!

Too bad it scared the little kids. He had to go and sit in the car. (Which made me laugh even harder!) It's not every day you see a Gingerbread man sitting in the passenger side of the car.

The Trick or Treating Group.
I know...me and Eric were slackers. I love dressing up but it's a little hard to find a costume for pregnant women these days.

There's a baker that lives near the homes we were trick or treating at, and every Halloween since I can remember, that's where we'd go at the end of our route and get the yummy donuts they make for all the Trick or Treaters and their parents. Highlight of my evening! The kids thought that was pretty awesome, too!
The last door of the night. Because the weather was so nice, my kids kept on Trick or Treating. We were out for over 2 hours, I would say. At every house, Maya would ask, "Two?" to the person handing out the candy. Who can resist that from a cute 2 year old dressed as Snow White? Not many people, we found. We have so much candy! Until next year...

Trouble

I am learning lately that mischief can occur in under a minute. In one day, Maya destroyed my extremely clean pantry (thanks to my Mom) by dipping her fingers in the Crisco and rubbing it all over herself, the other food items in the pantry, and the pantry door. Not to mention the crisco I found on the toilet seat and banister. What was I doing during this? Just changing the laundry! Honestly, she works fast! Needless to say, yesterday Eric put a lock on the pantry door because actually this is the 3rd time I have had the pleasure of cleaning up that awful stuff. No more Crisco surprises when we go to sit on the toilet; YAY!Um, and this same day I gave her a bowl of ice cream and left the room. I thought she had finished the ice cream because a few minutes later I saw her bowl in the sink. "Oh, I've taught her well!" I thought. She even puts her bowl where it goes. I walk in my bedroom to find the beautiful shoes (above) with her ice cream in it.? Why? Who knows. Maya just thought that was a good place for the ice cream to be. And...there were ice cream handprints all over my bedspread...and a little more Crisco.
So, I'm thinking, "Boy, I'd better keep this girl occupied and do a project with her. We gathered leaves outside and made imprints on paper with the crayons. I thought it went great! Both kids loved it and kept trying new leaves to see what they would look like. While cleaning up, I found this crayon; a bite right in the middle. Some things I'll never understand, but I do get some good laughs every day!

SURPRISE!

Since Eric's birthday and graduation were just days apart, I decided to throw him a surprise birthday/graduation party. I invited our family by sending out "subpoena's" saying they were required to come to his party and what they needed to bring. I thought it was funny.

Eric wasn't as surprised as I had hoped. I can't keep secrets very well, and he just knew something was going on because of how I was acting. I'm an open book, I guess. I sent him to Walmart for some mustard for our dinner and when he came back everyone was there. He was excited and hugged everyone when he came up the stairs.

We had "pigs in a blanket" (police officer pun), hot dogs, chips, etc. And we played some games.

Pin the badge on the rookie. Maya taking a turn in her ballerina outfit from Shelley. She can't get enough of it!

And we had a race to see who could eat a donut the fastest. My dad won! Which was no surprise to me. Donuts every Saturday morning growing up...Whoohoo! (I still have the craving of the donuts after Saturday chores, Dad.)
I asked those coming to write Eric a letter or card to tell him why they thought he'd make a good police officer. The letters were so funny. Lots of police jokes and advice.
My favorite joke: Police officer, "Oh, you thought we didn't give tickets to pretty women,
WE DON'T!"

Eric getting emotional reading the letters. (above) Thank you for writing those, everyone! He told me he felt very encouraged after reading those.The candles and making wishes. (with a little help from Maya)

Hayden in his police gear! He has been playing with this stuff ever since!

It was a fun night! I'm glad that we got to celebrate those two big occasions for Eric. Thanks family for all of your support. We have needed it, and will need more, I'm sure!

Jello Popcorn Balls

I have always loved the gourmet candy popcorn. As I was digging through some recipes on Sunday trying to find something to make that I would have all of the ingredients for (because I had a serious sweet tooth) I came across this jello popcorn ball recipe and decided to try it. It is so simple and really good! We tried strawberry and today I made strawberry colada flavored popcorn balls. I would love to see what grape tastes like or black cherry. I love that I can make different colors for different holidays by choosing a different flavor. Maybe we'll try lime and cherry for Christmas...maybe they'd taste good with two flavors of popcorn mixed together. More experiments to come, I'm sure!
Here's the recipe:

Jello Popcorn Balls

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup karo syrup
• 1 (3 oz.) pkg. of jello, any flavor
• 2 batches of popcorn

Pop the popcorn and get all of the un-popped kernels out. In a medium saucepan, mix sugar, karo syrup and jello until it comes to a boil and the sugar is dissolved. Pour over popcorn and fold the mixture over the popcorn until it is completely covered. Shape into popcorn balls or eat straight from the bowl.

Soccer Season

Hayden opted to play soccer this fall. I'm not sure we've found something he absolutely loves yet, but he did have a good time. Soccer in the fall, in Utah, is pretty much the craziest idea anyone has ever had. It was freezing and windy at more than half of the games. Our poor little players looked like little marshmallows out there with 5+ layers on to keep them warm. They still enjoyed it, though!

So proud of his trophy!

The "Red Ants"- Hayden came up with the team name, but every game he asked me if they'd let him change it to "Red Lava".

Center of attention...

Taking on #7!

He really did have such a good time. We went to my brother's soccer game the day after Hayden's last game. My brother, Rigby, plays soccer for UVU and he's pretty much the best soccer player that I've ever seen. Hayden thought it was so amazing to watch uncle Rigby. It inspired him to want to play next year. I think we'll have to hit Rig up for some soccer lessons!

Happy Birthday, Eric!

Today is your birthday, studly man! I have a few plans for today, but no matter what I do, you will out-do me on my birthday. You always do. You even tell me to not even try to top what you do for me on my birthday because it just can't be done. It's true. I can't give back to you as much as I feel you have given to me. I don't really know what redeeming qualities you saw in me when we got married. (I guess I was a smokin' hot babe back then...) I just feel like I don't deserve you most of the time.

This past summer, I had a list of things for you to do in the yard: fix and stain the deck, get rid of the "sandbox", fix the roof, on and on... Well, these things didn't get done and I am not upset one bit. Every spare day you had, you were helping other people in the neighborhood with their roofs and their fences. That's just the kind of man you are. You are very selfless with your time and you have a hard time saying, "no". Especially to me. I told you the other day that I don't think other husbands give in to their wife's every craving and go to the store at midnight. And you don't ask for anything in return. Well, most of the time you don't.

You are the best dad to our kids. I need a picture of their faces when they see you pull into the driveway. It's like Santa is here to bring presents! They want to be the first to give you a hug and that's why they race outside to see you. They also want to be the first in line to "fight" with you with the light sabers. It might bother other dads that want a minute's rest after a long day, but not you. Not that you don't want a minute's rest, (I know you do) but you want to make them feel special and loved. And you probably can't turn down those eager faces. You have a hard time telling them no, too.

Thank you so much for being by my side for the past 6 1/2 years. Thanks for holding my hand in the car when we're driving, thanks for telling me I look beautiful in a pony tail, thanks for making me feel like a wonderful mom, thanks for eating my burnt dinners with a smile, thanks for noticing that the house is vacuumed and the laundry is done, thanks for giving me our beautiful babies, thanks for loving me when I am unlovable, thanks for being the only person I ever want to be with, thanks for kissing me every night, thanks for marrying me, thank you. I love you more than ever. Happy Birthday! I hope you'll feel as special as you always make me feel.

On His Way!

Eric finally graduated from the police academy on Thursday. As you can see, he was pretty stoked! No more brutal workouts of carrying other officers up a steep hill or 1000000000000000 push ups, no more being thrown to the ground and having his wrists twisted in ways they shouldn't be in defensive tactics, no more sore muscles every day... But, reality does start now.
The academy did an orientation for the spouses of the graduating police officers. It was a lot of what to expect from their attitude changes, how to deal with certain situations, etc. I was surprised to hear other wives say different ways that their husbands have changed. I couldn't think of ANY negative changes in my husband. Other wives were saying that their husbands had lost their sense of humor, or that they had become very authoritative. I was happy to think that my husband has had more energy, he's been happier, he's more excited about life....the list goes on... I guess I have a great husband and this is what he should be doing. While they were talking about all of the scariness of being a police officer's wife, I felt very calm and confident. I can handle this. We can handle this.

The graduating class

Eric and his mother

Me, Hayden, Eric, my mom, Roy, and Maya

One thing that was very neat about the ceremony was that the Dad's of many of the cadets were also in law enforcement and were able to present their sons with their diplomas. Hayden always talks about how he's going to be a police officer with his Dad. They're going to be partners. While that doesn't sit well with me (Judy, I can imagine how you feel having your son do this) I am so glad that Hayden has such a great role model to look up to.
Eric with his future partner in crime!

Trying out his "don't mess with me!" face... needs some work, I think. :)

It has taken me awhile to process the feelings that I felt during the graduation. I guess what I am feeling most is pride. I'm proud that my husband wants to make a difference. He talks about that all of the time. He doesn't want to be a stereo-typical police officer. He wants to be better. I am proud that he has followed his heart and instincts to do what he's always wanted to do, and that he made sure that I was completely on board with it before he went ahead and did it. I am proud that he has worked so hard. It's an overwhelming feeling to me right now. There are a lot of things that I am sure I am not prepared for dealing with in his line of work. I just know that this is what he is supposed to do right now.

Eric, I really am so proud of you. You are really amazing and I could never go through what you have gone through in the academy. I am so proud to be married to you, Officer Salway.

A Simple Night

Joy is found in simple things and that is never more apparent than when it's just my kiddos and me. Eric has worked a couple of late nights this week and I have found myself not cooking good meals because, frankly, the kids don't care if it's steak or mac and cheese. In fact, they prefer macaroni! So, tonight we made a true delicacy. (if you're under the age of 6) I grew up making these weekly (you know all about these, Heidi!) and my children love them.

There's something about making a smaller version of a favorite food that makes it more appealing. And my kids made this meal all by themselves!

Take Pillsbury biscuits, pizza sauce, and cheese. That's it.


Smash the biscuits until they are flat and the dough is spread out and place them on a cookie sheet sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.

Spread the sauce over each biscuit. (They got a little carried away and ate a few spoonfuls of sauce.)

And licked the sauce right off of the biscuits. See those finger marks. Um, those ones are yours Maya!

Cover them in cheese. They got a little carried away on this task, too! I didn't care. They were having too much fun with it.

Cook them at 350 for 10 minutes or so and eat 'em!
No complaints about the menu tonight. Not a one.

Halfway!

Today I am officially halfway through my pregnancy and I am finally feeling GREAT! I am having such a hard time not knowing if we are having a boy or a girl. I keep changing my mind about whether or not I'm going to find out. The only reason that I want to wait is because this one has to be a C-section because my other two were. I hate the whole cesarean experience. I feel so disconnected and out of it. I've thrown up both times either during or after the c-section and I don't get to hold the baby until I'm all stitched up. In my mind, waiting to know the sex of the baby will give me something to take my mind off of everything else that is going on. Maybe...

In two weeks when I have the main ultrasound, I'll decide. But...HOORAY for being halfway done! Can't wait to hold this little one!

Just a Quick Fall Recipe

I have been craving pumpkin for weeks! These pumpkin cookies are easy, inexpensive, delicious, and gone very quickly. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

• Spice Cake Mix
• 1 can (small) of Libby's pumpkin
• 1 bag of milk chocolate chips

Mix all together and spoon out onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Spooky Halloween Ideas!

We could not find a babysitter for Friday night. I was so bummed because Eric and I haven't been out together just by ourselves in a long time. Because it was a Friday, we decided to do something fun anyway and bring the kids along. We decided to go to Gardner Village and go for a "Witch Hunt". Gardner Village put together a scavenger hunt for the kids to find every witch. When you have found them all, you go to the bakery and get a cookie for 25 cents. Click HERE for the Scavenger Hunt.

Maya would not get in any of the pictures. She just kept saying, "Scary!"

The finished Hunt!

I totally love Gardner Village! It's especially fun this time of year. The kids were good the entire time, until I decided I wanted to peak into Pine Needles. Then they all (including Eric) complained! It was such a great night, though. They have carriage rides with witches telling stories, but my kids didn't think that would be a good idea. Go try the Witch Hunt and let me know what you thought. (or invite me to come along! I will probably go do it again)

For Family Home Evening last night, we did a little Halloween craft after the lesson. This idea is from Family Fun magazine again and it's a winner!

We bought mini pumpkins and painted them black.

When the paint is dry, you attach spooky eyes (you can use craft foam or paper) to the pumpkins.
Then you cut wings and bat ears out of black craft foam, tape wooden skewers to the wings and toothpicks to the ears and stick them into the pumpkin.

And there you have the spooky bat pumpkins! They only took about 45 minutes, even with drying time for the paint. Hayden's HAD to have a mouth and nose! Click HERE for complete instructions.